Idle Minds Cause Fateful Actions
by Dark Phoenix6
Summary: So, seeing as how I've got WAY too much time on my hands now, I'm going to combat boredom with whatever ends-up being written here.
1. Preface

                Who would ever think that life, while flying by faster than you can imagine in a joyous raucous, can come crashing to the ground, into the depths of hell, dragging you with it.  I certainly never thought this possible.  In fact, I was flying so damned high that I didn't think anything would ever happen.  The simple truth is just this: fate and cruelty will tear your life from you the instant that you start to truly enjoy things.  As living beings, we're supposed to 'grab life by the horns', 'jump into life each and every day' and what have you.  This was my philosophy.  I volunteered for all the fun things.  I grabbed at every opportunity that came my way.  I ran through my days with only a few cares in the back of my mind.  Basically, I was the poster-girl for all of life's propaganda.

                All that changed rather quickly, though at the time I didn't see things change.  Only after I crossed that thin line between joy and sorrow did I understand what I did.  Only after I lost everything in my world did I understand loneliness, sorrow, misery, guilt, and fear.  Not fear like being afraid of the monsters under the bed, but true fear.  You know, the kind of fear that sends cold and painful shivers down your spine, that makes your stomach churn and your skin go pale.  The kind of fear you only experience once you open your eyes to see that everything has been taken from you, stolen and bartered to strangers.

                I was just an ordinary kid, waiting for my time to shine.  My friends from school had no idea who I really was.  They all thought I was just like them, just another person with magical abilities.  I thought the same thing about them, but I knew that they were all very different.  Aries, for example, was blessed with great abilities and was very much loved, but she was also cursed with a life of fear.  Trinity was a vampiress, very powerful and prepared to help her friends no matter what the cost.  Axrix had control of the infinite power of transfiguration.  Harry Riddle, who loved Aries more than I can tell you, had no problems with risking his life for the safety of his friends.  And then there was Will.  He and I were closer than all of these people combined.  We were both alone, scared.  We were both devoted to one another.  We were husband and wife.  If you had told me that I would one day be forced to chose between the life of my husband and the lives of my friends, I would have laughed at you.  If you had told me that I would one day battle with the God of War for the freedom of my dearest friend, Aries, the salvation of my husband, and the renewal of my soul, I would have stared at you and scoffed. 

                Human nature prevents us from seeing the truly big picture.  We focus on the 'here and now' of things.  We stare at life, waiting for it to blink, and then chase after it full out.  If I had been able to stop running, stop chasing, and take a step back, I would have seen the disastrous future in store for us all.  Hell, maybe I would have been able to prevent it.  I certainly thought that I could make a difference before my life went to hell in a hand basket.  But for some reason, once things crumbled and fell, nothing I did helped.  And no matter how I tried, our fates were sealed.  We were doomed.   


	2. The Beginning

            The grand common room was dark.  Only a few torches along the cold stone walls were lit.  The area in front of the hearth was dancing from the light of the yellow, orange and red flames, licking at the stone of its prison.

A series of dark coloured couches were placed around the room.  Comfortable looking chairs surrounded a few wooden tables, all of which were void of life.

                The room was quiet and empty, save for five students.  The three green leather-covered couches, forming a three-sided box before the fireplace were occupied by these students.  On the sofa to the left of the fireplace, Trinity and Ax sat together.  He had his arm around her shoulders, and she was leaning against his chest, her fingers lightly drumming on her knee.  On the sofa directly opposite them sat Aries and Harry.  They, too, sat closely together.  Harry was sitting with his left leg resting on his right knee, holding onto Aries' hand.  She was lying down, her head resting against his leg, softly humming the melody of a song, eyes shut.  On the sofa directly facing the hearth, Jamie sat alone.  Both her feet were planted squarely on the cold marble floor; she was leaning forward, elbows resting on her knees, chin resting in the palms of her hands.  She was staring into the dancing flames, her mind wandering.

                None of the five spoke.  They were all silent, save the soft humming.  The crackling and snapping sounds from the fire echoed through the room.

                Staring into the flames, Jamie blinked hard and sat against the backrest of the sofa.  She leaned her head back, allowing it to rest against the cushioned fabric.  She was staring into the rafters of the room.  She was always staring.

                Aries' stopped humming; a deafening silence ran through the room. Listening to the silence, Jamie heard far off voices in her mind.  They were calling to her, beckoning that she come to someone's aid, threatening her life and the lives of her friends.  Sighing darkly, she stood and stepped to the fireplace.  Resting her palms against the mantle, she leaned there, staring hard into the flames.  Her face was burning from the heat, but she didn't turn away.  Something was coming, at least she thought so.  And if it was coming, she wanted to know what it was.

                "Sit down," said Aries gently as she placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder.  "Come and chat with us."

                Turning around, she was met by Aries' eyes, peering into her own.  She smiled at her friend and sat down on her empty sofa.  Aries followed and took a seat by Harry, wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder.

                Trinity sat up and huddled closer to Ax.  She smiled at Jamie, who returned the grin.  "It's nice to have the room to ourselves for the summer," said Trinity cheerfully.  "Isn't it?"

                Aries and Harry nodded their heads, Ax ran his fingers along Trinity's arm, and Jamie smiled.  She stared into the flames again, the voices returning to her thoughts.  She shut her eyes tight and waved her hand at the hearth.  An iron grate fell before the flames, shutting them from her sight.

                "What's wrong?" asked Aries as she watched her friend drop the heavy grate.

                Jamie remained in silence for quite some time.  Within her mind she was trying to banish the chaotic voices.  She could not do so.

                Aries sat down beside her on the lonely sofa.  "Tell me what's wrong," she whispered softly, placing an arm around Jamie's shoulders.

                "Nothing is wrong," she lied, "I'm fine."

                Aries leaned her head against Jamie's shoulder and stared at the iron grate.  "You're lying."

                Jamie stood and waved her hand again.  The thick iron grate rose, disappearing into the chimney.  She stepped to the fireplace and stared at the white-hot embers.  She did not answer Aries' statement.

                Turning around, she saw that Harry and Ax were no longer sitting with the other two.  Looking at Trinity and Aries, "Where did they go?"

                Trinity looked up at her friend, her expression was of confusion.  "They went to bed ten minutes ago."

                Jamie stared at them both.  "I have been standing here for ten minutes?"

                "Jamie," said Aries softly, "You've been standing there for an hour."

                Hearing the words spoken by her friend, she shut her eyes tightly and ran her hand over her face.  She looked very tired.

                "What's going on?" Aries asked her.              

                She remained standing, strongly rubbing her temples as though to work the voices from her mind.  "I don't know," she answered quietly.

                Trinity looked up at her friend.  "What's going on inside your mind?"

                Jamie opened her eyes, she was somewhat shocked, her friends never read her thoughts unless permitted to do so.  "My mind?"

                Aries looked at Trinity, and then back to Jamie.  "Your thoughts are flooding our own.  What's going on in your head?"

                Jamie sat down across from them both.  "Will's voice," she answered, head bowed toward the floor.  "It sounds like he's screaming, like he's being tortured."

                Aries sat down beside her.  She said nothing.  Very gently, she placed her arm around Jamie's shoulders and rested her head against her friend's. They sat in silence for a long while, each trying to make of what had been explained.

                "Well you know it's not true," said Trinity softly. "You got a letter from him only this afternoon."

                "I know," she answered softly.  "But I can't shake these thoughts.  To be honest, it's freaking me out."

                Aries and Trinity remained silent.  None of the three spoke a word.  The crackling of the fire was the only sound that echoed in the dark room.  It was the only sound that Jamie heard as she stared at the floor.

                After a long while, the black and dark green grandfather clock began to chime solemnly.  She looked up at it, "One o'clock," she said to herself.

                Aries yawned and stretched as she stood.  "Go to bed," she said softly to Jamie.   Trinity also stood, looking over at the clock. 

                "I think I will stay down here for a little longer," answered Jamie.  

                Neither Aries nor Trinity said anything.  They nodded and left the room in the direction of the dormitories.  "Don't stay down here too long," said Aries as she disappeared up the staircase leading to her room.

                Jamie remained sitting in silence, staring into the flames once again.  Her mind never registered the fact that she had fallen asleep not long after her friends had left.


	3. The Guest

                Images and scenes of violence and bloodshed unfolded in her dreams.  Will's voice shouted for her and screamed out in pain.  She tossed and turned, her voice uttering her thoughts.  Before her eyes, she watched as a massive stone hammer rose in a clear and beautifully blue-coloured sky.  Her eyes locked onto the dull and roughly cut hammer as she watched it fall from the sky toward her.  The sound of bones being crushed pulled her from her sleep.  She opened her eyes and found herself lying on the floor.  She could feel pain in her chest, and for several moments, she was positive that the dull grey hammer had smashed through her flesh and reduced her ribs to rubble.

                "Jamie?"

                She turned her head and stared at the foot of the sofa.  She could still hear his voice, could still see his face as screamed.  Her breathing beginning to calm a little, coming in slower and longer breathes rather than the quick short gasping ones induced by fear.

                "Jamie?" Aries' voice was soft and quiet.  The hand she placed on her friend's back moved cautiously.  "What is it?"         

                "Nothing," she lied.  "Just a nightmare."  She still did not get up, but rather rested her head on her arms and shut her eyes tightly.  She could feel her friend's hand gently rubbing her back.  "Can you just leave me?" she said to Aries.

                "Trin, Harry and Ax are gone," answered the girl.  "So I've got nowhere to go at the moment."

                Jamie sighed and sat-up, leaning against the sofa and held her knees against her chest.  She stared at the floor in silence, allowing her thoughts to race through her mind.

                Aries sat down and hugged her friend.  "You can't lie to me," she said softly.  "Why do you bother trying?"

                Jamie did not reply.  She stared at the floor, her thoughts continued to ravage her mind mercilessly.  She shut her eyes and watched everything continue to unfold, unable to think of any way to make her thoughts stop.

                Leaving Aries to sit by the sofa, she quickly stood and stepped to the window, her boots knocking softly on the floor as she moved.  Stretching her arms, she leaned on the windowsill and stared out over the glowing late-morning sky.  

                The grounds shined with a brilliant green hue as the wind sifted through each blade of lush green grass.  The lake shimmered a silver-blue colour, small waves washing upon shore.  The bright white-yellow sun shined over everything, warming the stiff trees into motion.  Several birds sang merrily as they flew.  Smiling softly, she watched the birds' soar and glide, swoop and dive among each other.

                "Beautiful day," said Aries as she joined her friend looked out the open window.

                "Certainly is," answered Jamie, a little distractedly as she watched something bronze shine in the bright sunlight.

                "What are you looking at?" asked Aries curiously.

                Jamie continued to look out the window at the small shinning object.  "I don't know."

                Aries stood beside her friend and looked out. "That's weird.  Kinda looks like a Snitch."

                Jamie nodded her head a little, "But it's bronze, not gold. And it moves up and down, not in a straight line."

                "You can see that thing? It can't be bigger than a gobbstone!"

                "Good sight," answered Jamie casually.  

She leaned out the window a little more and lost sight of whatever the object was in a flash of blinding sunlight. She kept looking, her curiosity sparked.  Aries, on the other hand, turned away and walked back into the cool lounge room.

Jamie stared into the sky, trying to catch a second glimpse of what was there.

"Jamie come on, let's go find the others," said Aries as she set her summer cloak on one of the sofas.

"All right," she answered as she turned from the window.  

As she moved away, a loud and ear-piercing screech echoed in the room.  Jamie turned quickly and was clobbered to the floor.  Rolling into the room, she was only aware of a second, much larger person, rolling with her.

"Surprise," said a deep voice.

She stopped rolling and looked to the owner of the voice.  Her eyes moved over a muscular body, dressed in dark blue jeans, a long sleeved black shirt, and a dark grey summer cloak.  She looked to his face and met a broad smile, dark skin, black dreadlocks, and gleaming blue eyes.  "Will!  What are you doing here?"  Her words were shocked and filled with glee.

"Missed 'ya.  Thought I'd come visit."

She leapt at him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clobbering him to the floor.  She could feel him wrap his arms around her as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.  They remained locked together in silence, oblivious to anything else in the world, for a long moment.

Finally, she sat up, her hand still resting on his knee, as though making sure that he really was there before her.  "I'm so glad to see you," she said as she flung herself into his arms again.

"And I'm happy to see you, too."  His voice was filled with laughter as he held her close. "How have you been anyway?  I heard you've been having visions."

She moved away from him and peered into his eyes, "What?"

His smile faded a little as he spoke, his voice now sounding very concerned.  "I was told that you've been having nightmares.  Kind of visions.  Is it true?"  He ran his finger over her cheek and down to her lips.  "Don't lie about it either," he added softly.

She looked at him, and then to Aries who quickly turned her back and looked away.  Jamie turned her eyes back to Will and spoke softly, her voice barely more than a whisper.  "Yes.  But that's all they are.  Nothing more than ridiculous nightmares."  She looked away as she spoke, afraid that he would dwell on the subject.

Very gently, he cupped the side of her face in his hand, and with the other he tenderly took hold of her fingers, softly stroking them with his thumb.  "I'm sorry, darling.  I'll drop the subject."  His voice was soft as he spoke.  "Now, what shall we do? I've only got a few days."

She smiled at his touch.  "Did you want to go for a walk?  Aries and I were just about to head outside."

"Sure," he answered as he stood.  Smiling down at her, he reached out his hand and helped the girl to her feet.  Gently, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "I've missed you so much."

She smiled and hugged him close.  "I've missed you as well," she answered, his warm breath tickling her bare neck.

The soft sound of a cloak brought Jamie back to the room.  She smiled at Will and then looked over to Aries who was creeping out of the room.  "Are we still going for a walk?" she asks her friend.

Aries turned and smiled. "I forgot that I've got to get something from my dorm room.  You guys go ahead, I'm just gonna run up there right now."

Jamie laughed as she watched Aries turn and find herself facing the portrait door, and not the entrance to the dormitories.

"On second thought, I think I'll go find something to eat," she said, blushing scarlet and slipping out of the room.

Will smiled down at Jamie, gently swaying while holding her tightly.  He bowed his head and gently kissed her cheek.  "Always a gentleman," he smiled at her.  "Shall we, M'Lady?"

She smiled as he led her to the open window and hopped onto the ledge.  Within seconds he had transformed into a gleaming bronze falcon.  He screeched loudly before flying off into the gorgeous sky.

Watching him, Jamie climbed onto the ledge and jumped off.  Feeling the wind rush past her she laughed as the bronze falcon swooped around her body, screeching as its feathers brushed along her bare arms and face.  As she continued to fall, she transformed.  A small silver falcon replaced her plummeting body and flew high into the sky.

Soaring above the ground, the silver falcon flew in circles and dives, and was quickly joined by the larger bronze bird.  The pair moved around each other perfectly, close enough that their wings skimmed one another's.  The sunlight gleamed off their bodies as they dove through the clouds, as though they were both painted with metallic liquid.

As they soared over a cluster of trees, the silver bird screeched happily and dove toward the ground.  The bronze falcon followed, quickly gaining ground, and dove alongside the other in perfect symmetry.

Feet from the solid moss-covered ground, the pair morphed back into their human forms.  Smiling, Will grabbed Jamie's waist and pulled her close.  "Haven't done that in a long time," he said softly, brushing a few strands of copper hair from her face.

"Nope," she answered, smiling as his fingers ran along the side of her face.  Silently, she watched as he leaned forward, his hands gently resting on her shoulder blades, his breath warm and sweet.

"I've missed you so much," he whispered softly as he gently and tenderly kissed her.

She said nothing as his smooth lips gingerly touched her own.  After so many weeks, she finally had him back.  She finally had his touch, his scent, his warmth, and his being with her.  After so many long nights of staying awake and staring out into the skies, she finally had him back with her.

As their lips slowly parted, she smiled and looked up into his blue eyes.  "I thought I would never feel your lips again," she whispered as she held him close, her face buried into his chest, listening to his heartbeat, his lungs fill with air.

"Let's sit down," he said gently, leading her to the base of a nearby tree.  Smiling at her, he undid the clasp of his light summer cloak and splayed it on the lush grass.  He sat down, both legs stretched out in front of him.  She smiled at him as she sat down beside him, her legs drawn to her side as she leaned against his body.  She could feel his arm around her waist, his hand holding her own and softly stroking her fingers, and his lips as he gently kissed her temple, cheek, eye and her own lips again.

"You still taste sweet."  His voice was soft and tender, as it always was.

She smiled, far too content to speak.  She leaned her head against his shoulder and looked up to the castle.  Everything was perfect.  Will was with her.  She could feel everything lift from her shoulders.  The nightmares within her mind fell to invisible silence.  Everything was absolutely perfect. 


End file.
